Cherchez la femme

This article is about the French phrase. For the song performed by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band and later by Gloria Estefan, see Cherchez La Femme.

Cherchez la femme[ʃɛʁʃe la ˈfam] is a French phrase which literally means "look for the woman." The implication is that a man behaves out of character or in an otherwise inexplicable manner because he is trying to cover up an affair with a woman, or trying to impress or gain favor with a woman.

The expression comes from the 1854 novel The Mohicans of Paris by Alexandre Dumas (père).[1] The first use in the novel reads:

There is a woman in every case; as soon as they bring me a report, I say, "Look for the woman!"

The phrase embodies a cliché of detective pulp fiction: no matter what the problem, a woman is often the root cause. The phrase has come to refer to explanations that automatically find the same root cause, no matter the specifics of the problem.

The phrase occurs in the film Hopscotch in 1980 as Walter Matthau explains to a guy why he needs 500 dollars. The phrase appears in the film Carry On Doctor, where Fred (Julian Orchard) uses it in a more literal sense, simply referring to looking for a woman who Ken (Bernard Bresslaw) has seen and taken a fancy to. The phrase also appears in the films Chinatown and Dr. No. The phrase appears in the episode Rin Tin Tin and the Wild Stallion of the American children's television program The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.

This phrase appears in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas as a female character perk. In combat, the perk lets the player do +10% damage against female opponents. Outside of combat, the player will sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when dealing with the same sex.

This phrase appears in the film Mallrats when Brodie, played by Jason Lee, spots his love interest, Rene, played by Shannon Doherty shopping in the mall.

The 1987 James Ellroy novel The Black Dahlia features the line as a motif throughout, first spoken by Officer Lee Blanchard to the main detective, Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert, as a piece of advice. "Cherchez la femme, Bucky. Remember that." The line is repeated by Bucky's character throughout, and connects with its use in the rest of the genre.

In the TV series "Witchblade" (2001-2002) episode 3 Conundrum, Nottingham tells Sara "Cherchez la femme," to lead her to the killer she is seeking. Later he tells her "Cherchez la Jeune fille " (Find the young girl) referencing the next potential victim.[6]